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Indulging your inner child at Barcadia

You already know the games at Baracdia, the new tavern/arcade mash-up in the Warehouse District where coin-op classics like Ms. Pac Man, Street Fighter II and Galaga line the walls. But it’s the menu that has a few surprises.

The cheese on the flagboy burger is actually a fried patty of white cheddar that oozes out from its crisp shell. Pork belly preserves go on the Brian burger and the Naq Attaque comes with French onion soup re-imagined as a burger topping (you won’t need a spoon).

Meanwhile, order Billy’s fried PB&J and what you get is a hot, tempura-battered version of the lunchbox staple, done up with powdered sugar and resembling something like a giant peanut butter and jelly beignet. The carton of milk served on the side looks like a gimmick until approximately the second bite, when this dairy sidecar proves wholly necessary.

This is a concept that makes no bones about catering to your inner child.

Barcadia has been open for about a month now in the ground floor of a parking garage just off Poydras Street with an outdoor patio up front and a private room for parties in back. There are two other Barcadia locations in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, but the New Orleans edition has local credentials too.

Stan Ripp, who operates the Warehouse District event space Generations Hall, is running Barcadia here in partnership with the concept’s founder, Billy Blatty, while the kitchen is in the hands of Nick Hufft. He’s a New Orleans native who has gained a following in Baton Rouge for a food truck called Curbside, which serves burgers around a circuit of lunch and late night locations in the Capital City.

While burgers and fries are the big thing for his Barcadia menu, there are also a few salads and Hufft says a rotation of house-made sausages will join the line-up soon, along with more sandwiches. He’s also leaving room for a few specials to let his kitchen crew get creative and try out their new ideas for bar food.

Barcadia serves chicken and waffles on the weekends, and on Sundays you can wash that down with “white trash mimosas,” which here means Pabst Blue Ribbon and orange juice.

Check the bar for 40-plus draft beers, and keep some quarters handy for a few turns at Mario Brothers, Mortal Kombat, and, fittingly, Food Fight.